Strategies for learning at breakneck speed

From a self-professed jack of all trades and master of some. Apply what you learn early, and don't settle for the absolute basics; truly work to understand what you're doing.

Last week, my son (who is 14 years old and somehow taller than me) asked me how I learned new things so quickly.

Earlier this year, I started cutting his hair. He’s very particular about how he wants it, and the local barbers could never get it right. Aside from shaving my head occasionally, I don’t have much experience in this domain.

The first time I cut his hair, it was okay. The second time, it was ‘mid,’ as he would say. But by the third time, I nailed it, and now I’m his preferred barber. “How did you learn so quickly? You got it right the 3rd time!” he said.

So I explained that I didn’t have to learn too much. I only learned to cut a single hairstyle. I watched many how-to videos for similar hairstyles between each haircut session, each focusing on improving a specific skill/technique. By doing this, though, I learned a lot of general techniques that apply to various hairstyles. Here are some of the things I learned:

• How to section hair

• How to handle a comb and scissors (it’s surprisingly awkward)

• How to follow fresh-cut hair as a guide

• Cross-checking to ensure an even cut

• How to fade with the electric Clippers

• How to blend from short hair to long hair

• How to use texturizing scissors

His is not a simple shave, either. He wants an aggressive taper, with a long curly top that’s scissor-blended into the sides and texturing (for which I bought special scissors), without looking like a mushroom cut. It’s a little nerve-wracking; a bad haircut could destroy his social life, so I’ve been playing it a little safe, leaving extra length when I can where it makes sense; there’s no undo button here.

But you’re probably not cutting hair, so let’s look at something more relevant to Product Management. Let’s say you want to learn how to use BigQuery and write SQL database queries that can be used in Google Sheets as connected Data and Pivot tables to generate reports. If that sounds like a lot, it is, but don’t feel too overwhelmed.

Here are a few tips, and one way you could go about learning so many new things without getting overwhelmed:

Start with the basics:

• Like learning a new language, start with the basics: common terminology, high-level concepts, key frameworks, and understanding essential equipment and steps in the process.

• Be cautious not to spend too much time in the theory stages of learning. You need to start applying your newly acquired knowledge as soon as possible.

Apply what you learn:

• The sooner you start applying what you learn in some capacity, the better it will stick and the faster you will progress. Get the basics in place, put together a plan and get started.

Figure out A, B and C, but don’t worry about the order:

• In our example, we want to import data from BigQuery into Google Sheets and create a pivot table. Start with any of these, but just get started. Create a Google and then add a pivot table. Can you get data into it? Google and watch YouTube videos until you can. Or ask your favourite LLM, like ChatGPT, for help.

• Starting with BigQuery? Run a query to get any data, even if it’s not what you want, then figure out how to add a data source to Google Sheets and use that same query.

Now, connect it all:

• Once you have the individual parts, connect them. Make sure your data is in Google Sheets, then create a pivot table using that data, even if it’s the wrong data.

Make it work with your specifics:

• Starting with the first step, data, ensure you can get the correct data. If necessary, add one parameter at a time to your query, test it, and then keep going until you have the data you want.

• Alternatively, you can build up the different areas simultaneously by adding some data and then modifying the pivot table to show what you need.

Next, learn one or two advanced concepts:

• Here’s where most people stop. You probably feel pretty good and have a nice dopamine rush from getting everything connected and working. You likely learned a lot of new things by trying to fetch the data you need and doing research each step of the way when you got stuck, but the learning doesn’t stop there.

• Spend some time diving into more advanced concepts when they arise. Need to collate some data? Don’t just copy the first solution ChatGPT gives you. Learn about collation, how it works, and when to use it.

Keep learning:

• Now that you know the basics, keep diving deeper with every new concept you learn. Don’t just copy-paste your way to completion; take time to learn and understand what you’re doing as you do it.

Keep moving forward and building on your knowledge one step at a time. Even knowing 10% of what there is to know about an advanced topic, whether barbering or SQL, you’re already vastly more knowledgeable than 99% of the world population.

I love learning new things, and I hope you do as well. So far this year, I’ve taken a deep dive into barbering, framing & construction, building code, chain saw maintenance, tree felling, retaining walls, window installation, Spanish, and the bus and train industry. A bit of effort each day builds your knowledge and will impact your life and career.

What will you tackle next?